


Life Happens Wherever You Are

by LizaGreen



Series: Assassin Zuko One Shots [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, And speaks, Assassin!Zuko, Assassins & Hitmen, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Azulon is still a questionable grandfather, Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Big Brother Zuko (Avatar), Crazy Azula (Avatar), Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Nation Royal Family, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Iroh is Trying, Longshot has a name, Ozai Is Dead, Protective Azula (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Yu Yan - Freeform, Zuko (Avatar) Needs Therapy, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26379853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizaGreen/pseuds/LizaGreen
Summary: In the aftermath of Ozai's death, Zuko's life is targeted by two familiar faces. Painful truths come to light and Aang must face the mistakes he has made and the lies he has been told.Zuko just wants his sister back. Sokka just wants his friend to be happy. Longshot's past catches up with him.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Assassin Zuko One Shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1072755
Comments: 20
Kudos: 605





	Life Happens Wherever You Are

“I know what you did,” Sokka whispers in the middle of the night, once the others are all asleep. Team Avatar, as they had dubbed themselves, still found it difficult to sleep apart after so long spent camping in various places around the world and so, whenever they met like this at Uncle’s, they spent the nights curled up in a heap of loose limbs and bickering teens. The only difference this time was Azula, curled up in the smallest ball she could, half in his lap, breaths quiet and even in sleep as they never were in life. 

She had taken Ozai’s death the hardest. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Zuko whispered back, staring up at the ceiling. His Uncle had painted a red and blue dragon chasing each other across it. There was a silence a moment. 

“I tried to tell him,” Sokka continued, as if he hadn’t truly spoken. “I told Aang there was no other way. But, you know what he’s like...” He trailed off. Zuko bit his lip. 

“How?” he asked. He heard rather than saw Sokka shrug. 

“Piandao wouldn’t let me near the dual dao. Said they were assassin weapons.” Zuko flinched, remembering that his friend had met his former master. It had not occurred to him before that Sokka was quite capable of deducing what skills he hadn’t advertised. He heard shuffling and turned his head, resting it in the crook of his left elbow, his right hand gently carding through the tangles of Azula’s hair. It seemed to calm her somewhat, enough to sleep peacefully at least. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sokka said firmly, still quiet enough that no one would wake. “You should have told me. You shouldn’t... have had to do that alone.” Zuko bit his lip. 

“Kaito came with me.” Sokka blinked slowly. 

“Your guard?” he asked slowly. Zuko nodded. Sokka nodded back. 

“You still could have told me,” he insisted. “Or Toph. She’d have loved to smash his face in.” 

“I couldn’t claim pneumonia,” Zuko pointed out, wondering if he ought to feel more than just numb calm at a discussion of the murder of his Father. “I had the Dai Li bury him.” 

Sokka sniggered. Zuko allowed himself a small half smile, even as his friend quickly sobered up. 

“How has Azula... been doing?” he asked, the only one to have done so other than Uncle. He was looking at her with sad eyes, as if already knowing the answer. 

“Taking away her bending was the most barbaric thing Aang could have done,” Zuko said, voice louder than he intended. Someone grunted in their sleep and Katara rolled over. Azula whimpered into his chest, fingers twitching spasmodically on his sleeping tunic and he pulled her closer, breathing warmth into the air. Winter was approaching and Ba Sing Se was not as warm as home. Azula got cold so easily now. 

She shivered and snuggled in closer, half climbing into his lap in her sleep, like she was four years old again and yet to discover her inner flame. 

Sokka’s silence was enough, his face saying it all. He wondered if the other boy had been talking with his Uncle. 

“If you ever want to find a way to restore her bending, you know where to find me,” Sokka whispered. Zuko nodded his thanks. “And you’re really gonna have to explain that archer before Aang find out,” he finished rolling away and Zuko hid the rising wince, hugging Azula closer. 

That was not a conversation he was looking forward to. 

* * *

In the end, he didn’t have to. Zuko hadn’t known Smellerbee and Longshot were still in the city, nor what had really happened to Jet, but he really shouldn’t have been surprised by their attack on his life. Azula, refusing to be separated from her brother, oddly clingy, went to shoot fire and collapsed when nothing happened. Zuko, torn between caring for the sobbing form of his sister and defending himself, found an arrow in his shoulder as he half-lent over her. Had he been a second slower, it would have been in his heart. 

Longshot was swiftly blasted off his rooftop and pinned by a hurricane of shuriken. The street went still, shocked at the image in front of them. 

It was Sokka and Kaito who ran to see to Zuko’s injuries. 

“Can your sister heal this?” Kaito asked grimly, pressing his hand around the shaft, not tugging at it as Zuko hissed. Azula shuddered, breaths coming in ragged gasps as she stared at her hands, eyes unfocused and detached. Sokka gently prised Zuko away from her. 

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Zuko, you gotta let go, I’ll look after her ok?” Zuko, dizzy from blood loss and pain, couldn’t quite co-ordinate his now clumsy fingers to do that. Sokka tugged gently again and they fell away. “Just hang in there buddy, Katara’ll have you fixed up soon.” 

His pressed lips said otherwise. As did the telling silence still, of the street. 

Zuko couldn’t quite follow what happened next. Someone bundled him into a palanquin, Azula lying next to him, Kaito on his other side. His sister had gone from staring at her hands to staring at him with the same blank expression. He reached for her and was surprised to find blood on his fingers. 

A moment later, it seemed to him, Azula’s face was replaced with Katara’s. He was lying in a very green room, so opulent it could only be in the Earth King’s Palace. Said ruler was looking rather green as Yumi stood at parade rest between two Dai Li, her hands in earthern restraints. Zuko frowned, looking for Azula. 

“Lie still, Zuko,” Katara breathed. “Sokka’s with her and the Doctors. She’s fine just... a bit shaken up.” She didn’t sound particularly convinced of that fact. 

“Why is Yumi in chains?” he heard himself say, trying to sit up. Katara pushed him back down. 

“It’s not important right now,” she said firmly. Zuko frowned, shoving her away. His shoulder was healed enough for him to use it, down to a residual ache and resulting dizziness from blood loss. 

“No, I want to know why my guard is in chains,” he demanded. Kuei squeaked. 

“Yumi refused to become an Air Nomad,” Kaito piped up from the corner. “I told him you wouldn’t be happy about it, but he insisted he could change her mind.” Zuko cringed, taking a deep breath and massaging the growing headache. 

“Right,” he muttered, “of course. Release her, I’ll clear this up.” The Dai Li hesitated only a moment, before following Kuei’s nod and the earth cuffs disappeared quickly. “What happened to the attackers?” 

“We had them detained in the dungeons of the Palace,” Kuei said, only a slight tremor in his voice. He was slowly toughening up as a ruler. Zuko gave him a grateful nod, barely caring that he was in only a sleeping robe, padding across the room barefooted and throwing open the door. Katara followed, hissing something about his wounds. 

“Tell me where to find Aang and I’ll let you bandage the wound,” he compromised when it became clear she wouldn’t drop this any time soon. Katara didn’t look happy but he obligingly sat as she told him shortly that Aang was talking with their prisoners. Or rather, he was talking to Smellerbee because Longshot just _wasn’t talking._ Zuko nodded his thanks once she was finished. She caught his arm as he was leaving. 

“Be gentle, please?” she whispered. Zuko felt his heart break even as he steeled himself to do something very unpleasant. 

“I can’t promise that,” he said stiffly. “And I think you know that.” She bit her lip and nodded, dropping her hands. 

“I just wish it didn’t always have to be you,” she murmured. He paused a moment, fingers tightening into fists. 

“If you hadn’t coddled him, I wouldn’t have to,” he said through gritted teeth, keeping his tears on the inside. Katara’s blue eyes were shining as she nodded her acceptance of that and let him leave. 

Sokka caught up with them, Azula in tow, as they were halfway to the dungeons. Her face was still blank, but something crossed it when she saw him, actively shaking Sokka off to put herself on Zuko’s left side, hands in small fists. He caught her wrist and squeezed gently. 

“Katara said you were coming down,” was all the explanation Sokka gave. And then, “You don’t have to do this alone.” Grateful, he nodded, unable to remove the face of the Fire Lord. He knew Sokka saw through it anyway. 

Aang was unhappily bouncing on his feet, jabbering away at peaceful resolutions to Smellerbee and how he had already done such a good job with Ozai and Azula, Zuko was on their side couldn’t they see that? Longshot tensed when Yumi appeared, guarding Zuko’s back, Kaito having shuffled to the right for Azula. He turned to them with a smile, which drooped slightly at Zuko’s grim face. 

“Zuko!” he greeted them. “It’s all fine now! Smellerbee knows what she did wrong-” 

“She knows she failed to kill the last enemy Jet thought he had,” Zuko cut him off. “Don’t try to pretend she’s remorseful about this. She’s only sorry she was caught.” His gaze flickered to Longshot. “It seems only her companion knows how much they fucked up.” Aang gaped at the profanity. Longshot tried to make himself smaller. 

“Zuko?” Aang asked, voice small. “What do you mean?” Zuko didn’t know if he could say it. 

“The Wangdue existed long before the Yu Yan,” Azula suddenly said, voice oddly _normal_ , measured and calm and condescending. “They were the core, fleeing the so-called pacifistic monks who would have forced them to give up their culture and bows, when they begged Fire Lord Kogen for sanctuary from them. Had the Avatar cycle returned to Air, we would know where to find him.” Zuko winced. _Not normal. She’s just spouting old history lessons, easy information taught to us as children._ He supposed Grandfather had decided later than he had thought that Azula would not be a good fit for his plans for Zuko. Aang paled. 

“Wangdue? Zuko, you’re defending the _Wangdue_?” For a split second Aang looked torn between terror and anger. He settled on polite outrage. “Do you even know what they _did_ -?” 

“The Wangdue are warriors and assassins of the Air Nation,” Zuko said tonelessly, flatly. “Masters of the bow and feared by the monks for disrupting their idea of peace. The Yu Yan are no longer solely made up of them, but they still exist, preserving what little of their culture they got to keep after fleeing the monks.” His gaze flickered back to Longshot. “And Private Shi, I will not be penalising you for desertion, should you decide to stand trial in an Earth Kingdom court for today.” Longshot’s head popped up to gape openly at him in surprise. 

As did Smellerbee. He shrugged, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. 

“I looked you up,” he continued. And stayed silent as three pale faces stared at him. 

“I... will stand trial, Your Majesty,” Longshot said eventually, folding himself down into a perfect bow, prostrating himself before his Fire Lord. Zuko desperately wanted to pull him up, to tell him that he wouldn’t be pressing charges anyway, he simply didn’t have _time_ to worry about this and the Earth King would most likely just banish them back home to learn from parents he didn’t even know weren’t there. Smellerbee stared between the two of them, him in his nightclothes, not even wearing slippers, and her friend prostrated before him. 

“Longshot?” she whispered. “You’re... you’re an ashmaker?” 

“Half,” Zuko corrected her. “His mother was a Yu Yan archer. Private Akiko never said who his Father was, she likes playing coy that way.” Which mostly meant he had been a good tumble in the hay and little else- a lovely fact to find out on a ship chasing after the Avatar with his own host of Father issues. “He ran away when she was sent back to the Homeland.” He didn’t need to look to know Yumi had nodded. 

“We keep an eye on our own. He seemed happy enough with the little sociopath of the trees,” she said, voice blank. “Wangdue or not.” Smellerbee looked as if she had been struck in the gut. 

“You... you were _spying_ on us?” she hissed, backing away despite being in a cell. 

“Colonel Shinu didn’t want me in the Stronghold where Commander Zhao could get a fully trained Wangdue corp.” Zuko swallowed the snort of laughter. _Zhao was a moron not to realise the troop he was given was only half trained,_ he thought derisively. Aang was glancing between them all, eyes wide. 

“Aang,” Sokka said gently, “I think it’s time we had a talk.” The Avatar blinked, staring at the serious tone in his usually goofy friend’s voice, one that he had heard only once before. Right before he had shown him how to decapitate a person on a melon. 

Sokka steered him away, up and out of the dungeons. Leaving Zuko only to clear up this minor mess, rather than the bigger one waiting in the wings that had been looming since Ozai died.

* * *

They all parted ways three days later. Zuko took the airship he came in back to the Fire Nation, Sokka in tow. Aang had flown away from Ba Sing Se later that afternoon and had been missing for all three days, despite Katara’s search for him. Both Water Tribe siblings looked torn between guilt and sadness. Toph had just shrugged over their shared pot of tea back in the Jasmine Dragon. 

“It’s not like he can run into Ozai levels of trouble anymore,” she pointed out. “And you know Twinkletoes, he always runs off when he hears something he didn’t want to.” 

“You shouldn’t have been so harsh with him,” Katara had spat at Sokka and Zuko. “Both of you.” 

“If we had been truthful with him from the start, before this whole situation with Ozai, I wouldn’t have had to,” Sokka shot back tiredly. He was slumped in his chair. Guilt twisted Zuko’s own insides as he poured tea for Azula. She had said nothing since that day in the dungeons, but had insisted through glares and body language to always be on his left side. This seemed to both amuse and sadden Kaito. Uncle just smiled and commented on how good it was to see them getting along so well. 

Zuko wanted to scream that he would rather have his sister back properly. Instead he bit his tongue and gave a strained smile, accepting the tea. 

Katara had decided to stay and continue the search and Toph was going to be Team Avatar’s official representative at Smellerbee and Longshot’s trial. She sent word just before they took off that Longshot was to return to the Fire Nation and Smellerbee had been given community service, of which she had insisted on serving with her friend. 

Zuko braced himself for the outrage in his Court when he returned, to find out that the two had gotten such light sentences for an attempt on his life. 

They were both in the training halls now, under Yumi’s watchful eyes, Longshot dressed back in the uniform of a Yu Yan Private, a thin orange band denoting that he was under the protection of the Wangdue. The only thing that would protect him when the Yu Yan came to collect their deserter. 

“I’m thinking of having a contingent of Yu Yan stationed at the Palace,” he mused out loud, sitting alone in a room with Sokka, Kaito and Azula. He knew others would be listening, regardless. Sokka blinked, glancing up from the letter he was drafting to his Dad, the table cluttered with discarded bits of paper and their teacups, letting him know he would be in the Fire Nation and why. 

“Yumi’s?” he asked. Zuko shrugged. 

“I’ll ask for her input,” he said, “but she doesn’t really belong to one troop. Technically.” Sokka narrowed his eyes at that. 

“Right,” he said, lips pursed. “You know, I really do have to wonder how you and your Uncle ended up so sane, with family members like yours.” He sent a pointed look at Azula. Zuko raised his only remaining eyebrow. 

“Uncle brought down the Outer Wall of Ba Singe Se.” Sokka grimaced. 

“Ok, how did _you_ end up sane,” he amended, “without having it beaten into your thick skull.” Zuko thought a moment. 

“Kaito,” he settled on. “And many repetitions of Love Amongst Dragons.” Sokka blinked, glancing at his blue-eyed guard. Kaito smirked and gave a wave. 

“You said he was from the Swamp,” Sokka said suspiciously. Zuko took a prim sip of his tea. Azula glanced up from hers. Sokka groaned and bumped his head against the table. “You know Katara’s going to kill you?” he said between thumps. 

“That sounds like a problem for the future,” Zuko said, reheating his sister’s cup. She had been glaring at it, eyebrows drawn together in frustrated concentration. She pouted as he handed back the steaming cup but took a sip anyway. Both he and Sokka pretended not to see the tear slip down her cheek. 

“Just give me a heads up so I can get out of the way. Some of us can’t escape ice so easily,” Sokka said flatly. Zuko nodded seriously before the three of them broke into sniggers. Even Azula managed a smile. “You know buddy, you never cease to surprise me. At least this way, we get a minimum of a week away from the oogies.” 

“What’s an oogie?” Kaito asked, sounding half serious. 

“It’s what Sokka calls being disgusted at his sister in love,” Zuko said before Sokka could start licking people. He and Toph delighted in it. Kaito blinked, head cocked to one side. 

“So, something you’ll never have to worry about unless Chan digs himself out of his little hole?” Sokka choked on his tea as Zuko lunged across the room to cuff his friend over the head. 

As Kaito dodged, laughing, it was the most relaxed he had felt in weeks. And he could forget, for a moment, the shadow of Ozai’s death which surrounded them still. 


End file.
